Chapter 4

Aurora POV

I never thought I’d see him again, yet here he is, and at Jackson’s house of all places. Do they know each other?

He’s staring at me, his eyebrows pulled together in what seems like confusion. I glance at the house then back at him, realization hitting me that he must be one of Ivy’s high ranking friends. He was invited here to meet Jackson.

“The girl from last night,” he mutters, “You’re the ex of Ivy’s fiancé, aren’t you?” His eyes trail from my face to my dress- the same dress from last night- before he looks up again. “What happened to your neck?”

I lifted my hand to touch my neck, wincing as the pain shot through me—I knew there must be bruises there.

Then I looked up into his captivating eyes, hesitating whether I should tell him everything.

He’s Ivy’s close friend, and Ivy would definitely paint me as some clingy, gold-digging human girl who won’t let Jackson go. Plus, a werewolf like him would never truly understand what I’m going through. To keep things from getting worse, I just couldn’t trust him so easily.

So I just said, “It’s nothing.” But he continues to stare at my neck. Then, without restraint or warning, he reaches up, and I flinch back. My eyes close on instinct, but a hit never comes. Instead, warm, gentle fingers brush my neck where Jackson had grabbed me.

When I opened my eyes again, I looked up at him as he pressed, "Who did these wounds? Jackson? Ivy?"

I felt a flicker of emotion stirring inside me, just as I was about to speak. Then a familiar voice shouted, “Jackson! Aurora’s gone!”

My eyes dart to the front of the house, fear squeezing my chest.

“I need to leave. Please,” I begged, my voice trembling with fear and urgency. “What I want to tell you is that you should know the truth about us. Yes, I’m human, but I never meant any harm to Jackson. I loved him, and I thought he loved me too.”

My heart beats wildly against my ribs as I finally wretch my arm from his grip.

He sighs and lifts his hand. I barely refrain from flinching again, which makes him narrow his eyes suspiciously at me.

I take a few testing steps back, and when he doesn’t follow, I breathe a sigh of relief.

The man in front of me tilts his head to the side a bit, his eyes shifting slightly, just before I hear voices from afar.

“Goodbye,” I say quickly and dart away. I didn’t ever plan to see him again, and this was just a fluke. He’s a high-ranking werewolf and I’m a lowly human.

We won’t cross paths again.

However, for some reason, just before I turn the corner to the front of the house, I glance back. The man watches me with a deep gaze and furrowed brows. His gaze is intense, but I don’t have time to dissect it.

Right now, I need to get out of here and think about the future. The longer I stay in the werewolf world, the more danger I could be in. Jackson clearly wants to get rid of me, and I know if Ivy ever found me, she’d probably want the same.

Maybe it would be best if I just leave the werewolf world altogether.

I collide with someone and stumble, falling back and to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going!” A familiar high-pitched voice shrieks, and when I look up, I find Ivy standing over me. She glares at me, snarling. “You have eyes, so you should use them. Now, take these bags inside for me. They’re too heavy.”

The way she puts a hand on her hip while admiring her nails tells me she expects me to listen to her order. The arrogance doesn’t surprise me, but as I stand, I realize she doesn’t recognize me. She’s taken me for some sort of help, so maybe I can still get away.

But, then she focuses on me again and narrows her eyes, “I’ve never seen a human with such beautiful silver hair.”

“I found her!”

Hands clamp down on my arms from behind, and I whip my head around, finding Jackson’s sister holding me. “I caught Aurora!”

She’s breathless as she drags me toward the front of the house, and no matter how hard I dig my feet into the grass, I can’t stop her. Pain flares in my arms where she grips me, no doubt giving me more bruises.

“That’s her?” Ivy asks, and Jackson’s sister nods.

“Yeah, we had her locked up so she wouldn’t bother anyone, but she escaped. I’m just here to get her,” Jackson’s sister says, and I thrash in her hold.

I won’t go back to that attic. They have no right to lock me up like they did, but just because I’m human, they think they can treat me however they want. It’s how werewolves act with humans. They see humans as the lower life form that they can push around.

“How dare you show up here?” Ivy hisses at me. “You’re trying to ruin my relationship with Jackson again! I will not allow a pathetic human who doesn’t know her place to pull me and Jackson apart!”

I watch in horror as her claws extend from her fingers and jump back when she lunges. I’m not fast enough, though, and we tumble to the ground.

“I just want to leave,” I cry out, pushing against her shoulders. She pins me to the ground, getting on top of me with her knees holding my body down and one hand on my neck.

“Jackson is mine!” She growls and raises her claw-tipped hand in the air.

Fear flashes through me at the realization of what’s about to happen, and instinctively, I close my eyes.

“STOP!”